Trestle or horse



TRESTLE 0R HORSE Filed Sept. '7, 1939 Patented Oct. 1, 1940 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE v a Hector Dion,.Wellesley, Mass Application September 7, 1939, Serial No. 293,768

,2 claims. (01. 304-) The invention relates to trestlesor-horses such as originally usedby carpenters, painters, plasterers, and other mechanicsas supports for the material. being worked upon and as supports for planks forming an elevated staging,but latterly widely used fora Variety of other purposes, as to support catererstables, and other tables for table tennis and other games; to mark places of danger or obstruction on roadways and sidewalks,

f6- and on thin ice; to define parking spaces; and

'to exclude foot and vehicle traifi'c from desired areas; as well as a number of similar and allied uses.

A primary object of the invention is to provide 31a horse especially adapted for the current uses of these devices,.in which the legs can be folded against and within the width of the lateral faces of the body member when not in use, both to protect the legs from being broken off in moving and handling and to make the horse occupy less space and thus facilitate transportation, storage, and packing.

Another object of the invention is to provide a foldable horse in which the legs when extended into position for use, will be held rigidly and securely against change of their intended angular relation to the body member, so as to provide a rigid and stable structure.

A further object of the invention is to provide a structure of this type which is of simple, light, and inexpensive construction, simple to 'set up and to fold, having a minimum number of component parts of simple form and capable of being made and assembled cheaply and easily, without sacrifice of essential strength or stability, and with all parts permanently attached so as not to be lost in use or handling, and having no mechanism which can be clogged by dropped paint or by dirt.

To these ends, the invention comprises in its basic preferred form a body member having diverging lateral faces, and four legs, to which faces the legs are pivotally attached to swing in planes parallel to such faces about axes perpendicular to such faces, with means optionally permitting and preventing swinging of the legs about such axes. Preferably, the body member is composed of two rectangular elements joined together along one longitudinal edge, and spaced apart in rigidly braced V-formation at the opposite longitudinal edge, with one leg attached to each end of each element by pivotal means which holds the confronting surfaces of the leg and of the element of the body member in close and parallel relation to each other. Preferably also, each element of the body member bears one stop and one detent for each leg, the stop being in fixed'position' determining the angle of its leg with the body mem-, her when erected, while the detent is adjustable into or out of engagement with the pivoted end of the leg at a point on the oppositeside of the pivot from the stop to prevent rotation of the leg about its pivot away from the stop, thus holding the leg against change of its angular relation to the body member-while in use.

Other objects of the invention, and the manner of their attainment, are as will be made plain hereinafter.

An illustrative embodiment of the invention is shown in the accompanying drawing, in which,

Fig. 1 is a side elevation, and Fig. 2 is an end elevation, of the improved horse in erected relation and as ready for use.

Figs. 3 and 4 are respectively aside elevation and an end view of the horse when folded for packing, storage, or transport.

' Figs. 5' and 6 are an elevation and an end view, respectively, on an enlarged scale, of a portion of the body member and legs at the right-hand end of Fig. 1, showing details of construction.

In its preferred form, the body member I comprises two wooden elements 8 of any suitable length, width and thickness, joined together by screws 9 at their upper edges, after a slight beveling of the surfaces in contact with each other, and with their lower edges spaced apart and securely held in V-relation as shown in Fig. 6 by metal tie irons 3, of inverted U-shape but with the flanges at their extremities in diverging relation conforming to the inclination of the respective elements 8 to which they are afiixed by bolts 4. These bolts 4 pass through the flanges of the tie irons and the elements 8 and then project beyond the outward surfaces of such elements 8 to receive on their protruding ends sleeves ll] of metal or fibre which are retained thereon by the headed ends of the bolts. One tie iron 3 is located at each end of body I adjacent the points at which the legs are pivoted, and additional tie irons intermediate the length of body member I may be employed if desired, though seldom necessary. Where the body member is desired to be made of metal, it will preferably be formed of a single piece of sheet metal, bent into the desired V-shape along its middle longitudinal line, preferably with similar tie irons applied within the mouth of the V.

The legs 2 are also made of wood in their preferred form, for lightness and cheapness, though they may equally well be made of metal if desired. Each leg is pivoted at a point substantially below its head end upon a bolt 6 or rivet put through a suitable closely fitting hole in the leg 2 and through a second hole in the element 8 to which it is attached, located a few inches inward of the end of such elements, the bolts or rivets being tightened sufficiently to hold the 0pposing surfaces of leg and element in conforming contact and with sufiicient friction to maintain the legs in the folded position shown in Fig. 3 during handling and carriage.

The fastenings 4 with their sleeves I8 protruding from the outer surface of the elements 8 of the body member into the path of the swinging legs 2 form stops determining the limit of swing of the legs in a direction away from each other, and thus determine the angular relation of the legs of each element 8 to each other when the device is in erected and working condition. Preferably, as shown, the legs are given a slight outward flare in their downward extent, for stability.

To hold the legs in this position while the horse is in use, swinging, off-center, turn-button detents 5, L-shaped in plan, are pivotally mounted on screws H driven into the elements 8 in such location that when the legs 2 are swung into contact with stop 4, the outwardly-turned ends of detents 5 can be swung down into wedging relation with the sides of the legs 2 above the pivots 8 thereof. In this condition, the legs cannot be swung in either direction about pivots 6 and thus are held in rigid angular relation to the body member I. Screws 1 below the detents 5 prevent their falling down to release the top portion of the legs.

When the horse is to be folded, the detents 5 are merely lifted clear of the heads of the legs 2 into the position shown in Fig. 3, and the two legs of each element 8 'are swung in any order into parallel and adjacent relation to lie wholly within the width of the elements 8, as shown in Fig. 3, the beveled corners of the heads of the legs permitting them to clear screws 1 which support the detents. In such folded relation, the friction between the legs and the elements 8 holds them securely enough for easy handling without the need for any fastening devices. As shown in Fig. 4, the width and depth of the space occupied by the folded horse is negligible as compared with the space needed to store or carry a rigid non-folding horse of equivalent size and strength.

While I have illustrated anddescribed one form in which the invention may be embodied, I am aware that many modifications may be made therein by any person skilled in the art, without departing from the scope of the invention as expressed in the claims. Therefore, I do not wish to be limited to the particular form shown or to the details of construction thereof, but

What I do claim is:

1. A trestle having, in combination, a bodyportion comprising a pair of boards connected together along one longitudinal edge of each, means holding the other longitudinal edge of each board in fixed spaced relation to that of the other board, a pair of legs pivoted to the outer face of each board and swinging along the plane of such outer face about axes perpendicular to that plane, and means optionally fixing the legs against movement about such axes and releasing the legs for such movement.

2. A folding trestle comprising, in combination,

two boards joined together in V-formation by being connected together along one longitudinal edge of each board, means maintaining the boards against change of their angular relation, four legs, means pivotally connecting such legs to the outer faces of said boards to swing along and continuously in contact with the said faces, fixed stops engaging the legs at one side of their pivotal connections with the said boards, and movable detents engaging the legs at the other side of their said pivotal connections and holding the legs against pivotal movement.

HECTOR DION. 

